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Isle of Berk
The Isle of Berk is a relatively small island that's the setting of the series. This island is home to the many vikings of the Hairy Hooligan tribe and many dragons as well. It is based on an uninhabited island to the west of Scotland that Cressida Cowell frequently visited when she was a child. Geography Berk, a small island that's twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death (the latter two being either figurative modes of speech or, less likely, actual, comically-named places), is located solidly on the Meridian of Misery in the Barbaric Archipelago. Berk is a rather round island, similar to an oval shape, and it looks quite small on maps. It contains many interesting, geological landforms such as rocky arches and cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, streams and several large forests. There is also a massive cavern under the village which now serves as space for dragon stables. In the book series the island is known to grow a plant called the Berk Bog Rose. Climate Berk is known to have extremely cold, long winters and short warm summers. However, throughout most episodes and the movie, the weather seems to be clear, yet cold. Very few episodes show the weather as described by Hiccup, as most of the time Berk appears to be green and growing. This could be more a production limitation, as rendering rain, hail and snow all the time is harder than just clear days and nights. Notable places A large amount of places are introduced around Berk despite its size. Places like the Great Hall, all of the houses, and the animal barns. Village The village is a place where the vikings of Berk live. The village is filled with large houses with an architectural theme of dragons, and the homes are built on land with a gentle slope. However, these homes had to be constantly reconstructed or repaired after being destroyed during a dragon raid. More houses were then destroyed by Drago Bludvist's Bewilderbeast, but were repaired after his defeat.6 The Great Hall ( also known as the meade hall) A large room with a large circular table at the centre, surrounded by many normal tables. This is where the vikings gather to plan an attack, communal meals, study (if in Dragon Training), hide during bouts of bad weather (in these instances the dragons and if necessary, farm animals, stay here as well4), or celebrate. On the wall are portraits of all the previous chiefs and their sons, the most recent one being of Stoick and Hiccup.7 However, in the mobile game Rise of Berk, it is known as the Meade Hall and determines the number of vikings and dragon capacity on Berk. Barn A large barn exists at the base of the cliffs, and in front of it are large pens for the yaks the vikings domesticated. Chickens, Yak and sheep are also kept here.4 Weapon Storehouse/The Armory Obviously, a storehouse for weapons. Apparently there is gunpowder or some other explosive substance inside, which at one point Mildew lit to blow up the Storehouse and frame Toothless . The Docks The Docks in Berk have large individual docks for loading and unloading large cargo into the ships. The docks are built from the large cliff of Raven Point. A wooden walkway is built above the docks to view the ships from. This is where Hiccup stood as he watched the ships sail away to the Dragons Nest2. The Haddock House The Haddock house is built on top of the high slope overlooking the entire village. Their house is mostly larger in comparison with other homes. This house is next to the Great Hall. Main Room The Main Room is the main room after entering. This room consists of a fire pit mainly used for cooking and heat. To the left side are many large steps to the second floor and Hiccup's room. In The Terrible Twos, Stoick is shown to sleep down there. Hiccup's Room Hiccup's Room mainly has a wooden bed with patterns carved into the head board. On one post of the foot board is where Hiccup keeps his helmet. At the base of the bed is a small wooden chest. Beside the bed is a table and chair that Hiccup sometimes works at. There is a also a large rock slab that Toothless sleeps on. Gobber's Blacksmithing Forge Gobber's Blacksmithing Forge is the main blacksmithing shop of the island and was where the vikings got their weapons during the dragon raids. The forge is spacious with many weapons inside. Lately Gobber has become a dragon dentist, so he put up a sign above the forge with a tooth on it, though the forge is still used. By the second film, it became the greatly expanded Dragon Armory where Gobber continued to practice his dragon dentistry and has dragon saddles built here9. Both Hiccup and Stoick worked here on saddle orders.6 Hiccup's Workshop Although it's unverified, Hiccup's workshop is located inside Gobber's blacksmithing forge. This is where Hiccup works, on his own time, to build or plan to build things2. Mildew's House A gloomy house built in the shadow of a cliff on the edge of the village, away and out of sight from the other houses. According to Gobber, the vikings built it there because they find Mildew annoying Gothi's House A house built high up on top of a cliff that houses the village elder. Berk Dragon Training Academy Once the arena where Dragon Fighting class was held, it also housed several dragon species the vikings had captured for training the younger vikings to fight. There was a Deadly Nadder (Stormfly), a Hideous Zippleback (Barf and Belch), a Gronckle (Meatlug), a Monstrous Nightmare (Hookfang), and a Terrible Terror (Sharpshot). Toothless was also imprisoned here a short while. It was also used for the purpose of housing the battle between the best of the Dragon Training class and a Monstrous Nightmare2. Later, Stoick gave Hiccup the arena to use as the Berk Dragon Training Academy, and a sign depicting Toothless was put up over the entrance.10 The dragon cages were kept intact, as the dragons were locked up here when they were causing trouble, and also Stoick's Thunderdrum, Thornado, was locked up here with a muzzle when it was still aggressive.11 Raven Point As stated in the first film, Hiccup says he shot down a Night Fury that fell just past Raven Point. Raven Point is a mountain peak filled with forests and steep cliffs. At the base of the tallest peak, lay the docks. This is notable because of a large canyon like structure between the tallest peak and another steep cliff. The Cove A large sunken area in the forest with rocks, tree roots, and a pond with fish. It was here Toothless crash landed once Hiccup released him, and this was where they gained each other's trust and friendship. The walls are steep enough that Toothless cannot easily get out, though he can if sufficiently motivated, as seen when he escaped to save Hiccup from Hookfang.2 However, vikings can easily enter and exit . Hiccup occasionally leaves Toothless here when he doesn't want him to go anywhere, as seen when he believes Toothless' aggression around Torch, the baby Typhoomerang, to be a problem and leaves Toothless stranded in the cove as punishment.12 Stoick ordered everyone to go the cove when the Speed Stingers attacked.13 Dragon Stables (also known as Dragon Hangar) Using the tunnels and cavern created and found following the Whispering Death and Screaming Death attacks14, Hiccup and Gobber were able to build the stables with custom stalls for the various dragons. The stables also had storm doors. 9 Dragon Race Stands Following the start of Dragon Races, stands were built for the spectators with the chief's chair in the center. The Equestria Passage Bridge Somewhere along the boarder of Berk is a passage bridge that leads to the Kingdom of Equestria. Lifestyle As a sea-faring people on an island, fishing provides a large source of food for Berk and their dragon companions; known species include cod, salmon, sturgeon and eel. Their animal husbandry includes yaks for milk, fur and beef, sheep for wool and mutton, and chickens for eggs and meat. They have farms that grow vegetables like cabbage, and apparently grow a cereal grain as they regularly have bread. It is known that they hunt the aggressive wild boars that live in the forests for food. They likely also forage for wild fruit and foodstuffs like apples and lingonberries from the forest. As they often wear metal armor and extensively use iron for not just weapons, it is not unreasonable to assume that there is at least one local mine or other readily accessible source. Dragons are becoming an integral part of Berk, usually providing rapid transportation and companionship. Hiccup's Academy riders, however, are the ones that actively train for air search-and-rescue, scouting and village defense. Under Hiccup's direction, riders have learned to steer the natural instincts of trained dragons to assist with fishing and hunting. After discovering that dragons communally defecate daily at three in the afternoon, riders now use this as a fertilizer application system when appropriate. There are also dragon riders that are part of the local firefighting brigade, carrying carts of water to act as water bombers. This is changed in later years, supplemented by a water delivery system that Hiccup designed which any rider can use by pulling a rope to unleash water onto the building on fire. Celebrations The major annual holiday is called Snoggletog which takes place in late November or December. It is very similar to Christmas, with a structure similar to a Christmas tree put up in the center of the village, decorations are put up, and viking children leave their helmets out for Odin to put goodies in.3 In the annual Thawfest games, the vikings test their strength and courage in competition. With dragon riding now involved since the peace, the games take place over a period of at least two days, with a third for tie breakers.15 Another local holiday is Bork Week, celebrating Bork the Bold. As part of it, Stoick had Hiccup and the trainers put on a dragon air parade to celebrate the first Bork Week with the dragons. They also display Bork's archives in the Great Hall. A minor holiday is Stump Day, to celebrate those who have lost their limbs.16 There was also the Regatta, which was an annual seafaring competition used to calm the Vikings down because, as Stoick stated, "If we're not fighting against something, we are fighting against each other". In other words, it was used to blow steam and facilitate non-violent competition among the Vikings. Unfortunately, the Regatta became boring and old fashioned due to the slow pace the boats moved. Eventually the dragon racers came up with the idea of dragon racing with Stoick officially announcing the first annual Berk Dragon Race, which have since replaced the Regatta.17 Political System Berk is a Chiefdom. The chief is Stoick the Vast who lives in the village with his son Hiccup. It also had a Council that discussed things such as Hiccup's search for new dragons and Dagur.18 It's also an island of equal treatment, since both men and women can become soldiers and fight battles, rather than just men fighting. At the end of the second film, Hiccup becomes the new chief of Berk. Dragon Species A large variety of dragon species live on Berk and it's surrounding islands. Twenty-one different species and counting have been encountered to date. The only known Night Fury lives on Berk, and the first and only Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus encountered so far lived on an island nearby. Other recently encountered species include the Terrible Terror, Hideous Zippleback, Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Gronckle, Thunderdrum, Boneknapper19, Typhoomerang12, Scauldron, Fireworm, Whispering Death, Changewing, Grapple Grounder, Rumblehorn and Smothering Smokebreath. The Typhoomerang was first discovered on Berk. Bork the Bold also encountered Timberjacks, Snaptrappers and Skrills on or around the island; and just recently the Flightmare, Fireworm Queen, Screaming Death and the Speed Stinger were discovered there. At the end of the second movie, the Raincutter, the Scuttleclaw, the Stormcutter, the Snafflefang, the Thunderclaw and Thornridge started to live on Berk. Trivia * Category:Locations Category:Places Category:Islands